Thursday, November 18, 2010

"In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer." - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

We may not have demons and vampires (I wish!) but there is a force of darkness, a big bad - magazines that tell us we aren't and never will be enough. Magazines that promise that if we buy the shit their advertisers are pushing, we might come close to being happy, beautiful, empowered, enlightened. I would like to see this message staked in my time, and I want it to reach girls most of all. Watch the video below to hear Tavi talk about Sassy and her vision for a contemporary take on the magazine today...

I've never heard of Tavi or Sassy so this is interesting! Keep up the good work :) Also I've tagged you in a blog post - I hope you don't mind? Also if it's something that you don't want to do then no worries as I don't mind :) x

please dont hate me, but i absolutely (expletive) hate tavi's whole blog thing. shes not cute, shes a preteen doing what preteens do and taking pics of it. plus, i have a degree in magazine journalism and SHE gets to contribute and doesnt even have a hs diploma. forgive my terrible grammar, but this whole thing makes my blood boil.

I think Tavi's obviously very precocious and smart, but I don't see much difference between her thoughts and mine when I was her age. I think Tavi obviously has a very quirky, inventive sense of style, but I don't find her blog that interesting or compelling.

Buuuut. I do agree with her thoughts on Sassy. I think magazines are by and large completely absurd and, in many ways, completely insidious.

...that first part came off as very conceited. What I mean to say is that Tavi frequently makes reference to her sidelong belittling of her classmates--very cynical, very Daria. I did that too. It was because I thought they were all really dumb, and I was obviously way smarter than them. I probably was more mature than them, but that doesn't mean that my clever taunting had any kind of value. It isn't endearing.

i think all of the remarks above are what i love so much about tavi? the attitudes above towards 14 years are as juvenile as being 14 at all. she brings a fresh perspective to the table and she still has so much time left in her career to make some serious changes. given the nature of her opinions, i think she'll do great things to the surface of the fashion industry once she's matured and used to the working habits of professionalism.we all loved daria, we all love tavi.

hello! sorry to be jumping in on this discussion so late - its been busy!

kallie and sophi - I was shitting bricks over my submission all week and your comments really helped to calm me down and put it all in perspective - i can see why she erks you, but there is just so much I love about her too.

sophi and kallie - Yes, the blog is gimmicky and it was the whole "oh my god shes so young and tiny! thing" that got tavi known (and love and hated by so many people) But its really not the gimmick that has kept me around. I agree with Erika - I think she is bringing really interesting perspectives to the table. ---for me, its the way she's expressing and transgressing her girlhood, pushing boundaries - this girl is unstoppable at this point - changing the nature of fashion journalism and bringing riot grrrl back into the discussion on the internet.

i could do my masters on tavi - the good, the bad, the ugly. the girl fascinates me!

I like Tavi's blog just fine, and I think she's very well-versed in feminism. She definitely is transgressive, and that's a rare, laudable trait in a 14-year-old girl. I guess for me, once the gimmick wears off, I don't find her blog that interesting. I LOVE when she writes, but when she just posts inspiration, it doesn't really inspire/interest me.

I don't begrudge her her fame or anything at all like that, and I'm so glad that she's starting this teen magazine.

And I love Daria, too... I dressed up as her for halloween, even... but I think it's important to remember that thinking you're better than everyone, even if you are, is an act of hubris. There's a much more painful side to it. Gonna get really real here. I STILL struggle with this. I have all kinds of issues with friends, loneliness, self-isolation, etc. Tavi's probably more well-adjusted than I am. I just see some of the stuff she posts, and I might be projecting, but I can't help but recognize it as that smarter, "edgier", more-mature, more-articulate-than-thou ethos that defined my young adolescence and probably cemented all of the issues I'm dealing with now. So my dislike of that aspect of Tavi might just be self-loathing, who knows...